I had visited this region about forty years ago. Then a bunch of college students, 6 of us walked up from Mangan to Yumthang in the month of October. Entry to North Sikkim was restricted and we had to obtain permit at Gangtok. The beauty of the place had mesmerized us...

The sun was now high overhead. No shadow of the hill on the valley below. With dense tree cover all around them, the colorful little houses lay supremely peaceful under the sun. The whole world was so beautiful...

The sun had risen only a few minutes. A delicate touch of pink painted the snow top of the large hill straight across the valley. Thought the cap looked thick, it is not permanent snow. It just will last longer when winter ends. The whole of the valley and our side of the hill, all were dark without sunshine yet...

In Jammu and Kashmir Himalayas, Kashmir is one famous tourist place, but Himachal is all dotted over with many popularly known and not so well known tourist spots of great natural beauty. Overall on the basis of variety, Himachal was favored. And which place should be the first? It was easy to decide—Dalhousie was still considered a prime hill station in India...

If you like—come, stay for at least one night, roam around on foot, drive along the roads on both sides, be one with yourself and nature and finally take back something with you that will always remain valuable to you...

On the plains evening descended, and then night fell. The car streaked ahead through the night towards a small bubble of light, warmth, food and company—our home in Jammu. Far behind up in the mountains, Khajjiar lay dreaming in the lap of its mother.

This is the Pir Panjal mountain range running from east-southeast to west-northwest across Himachal Pradesh. The highest peak in this lower Himalayan range is Indrasan (6221m). Further to the right should be Dhauladhar behind the bend.Nowhere in between I could detect any sign of human civilization—it seemed to be all the way wilderness...

It was dusk at Khajjiar, a day had ended, evening was about to drop its shroud. It was leaving time. Within an hour at most it will be dark and all the human figures would take shelter in their warm enclosures. Nature would again be left to itself...